Toyota Corolla Maintenance and Repair

Comments

I bought my 2007-Corolla in 2006. It has a 42000 mileage now. The engine noise becomes very louder. I sent to dealer for a check up. They found out the Driving Belt need to be replaced. It was out of warrant (over 36000 miles). It cost me $200. My previous 2 cars never had such problems. Is that usual for a car with 42K miles to replace driving belt? I felt I was cheated.

I assume your referring to the serpentine belt when you say driving belt. I say this because the 2007 Corolla uses a timing chain, not belt. If you got 42,000 miles out of the serpentine belt that's sounds normal. Actually, $200.00 for changing the serpentine belt is probably slightly high even for the dealer but not outrageously high. The belt itself costs about $20.00 A suggestion would be to find a reputable mechanic that is not a dealer that could take care of these general maintenance jobs for you. This could probably have been done for around $100.00 to $150.00 at a non-dealer mechanic.

I got the same problem within this couple weeks, but mine doesn't have heating problem, just loud noise (vibrating sound) when increase the acceleration. Anybody know what is the problem? Maybe btsridhar, could give me some update about his/her car or fellow Corolla users that have same problem?

FYI, I own a 2001 Corolla as well as a 2009 Corolla and a 1986 Tercel which I bought brand new in 1985. I have never had any preventive maintenance done on any of my vehicles by the dealer. All I do is regular oil changes, spark plugs on the "86" occasionally and rotate the tires occasionally. It is also important to make sure your fluids are always at there required levels. So in my opinion skip all the little stuff and just do the necessities and you'll save a quite a lot of money and your Toyota will be fine. Also, note to keep records of your oil changes so your warranty is not voided.

I wash yesterday under the hood of my corolla 2004. Water spry was just for few second. Problem starts after wash the engine, engine yellow light show up in dash. Driving fine under 60Km But refuse to speed up to 100km looks like gear shift don&#146; want to go in 4th gear. I went to my garage mechanics check with computer and got Code# P2770. He don&#146;t know because description wasn&#146;t available on his computer any way he rest and yellow engine light going. Then I test the car on highway everything is fine car went over to 100Km. now next morning on start my day again engine check light show up. I just find out Code#P2770 desecration: DSL Solenoid Circuit High (Shift Solenoid Valve DSL) Electronic controlled automatic transmission (ECT) Please advise me how I can fix this problem. What need to replace.

My answer would be to keep the water off of the engine. Not sure why you would want to wash your engine with water anyway, water doesn't cut grease! I would guess your problem might disappear when the effected part, whatever it might be, dries out.

Either have a professional shop do it, or if you are the patient sort---what I do is get warm water and Simple Green, mix it up, and use a paint brush to clean things up while covering up vital electronic parts with plastic or tin foil. This is far more precise than something like a hose or steam wand at a car wash.

Has anyone heard of something similar to this -- my 2007 corolla, which is just shy of 12,000 miles and is an automatic transmission, stalled shortly after the "malfunction indicator lamp" turned on for the first time ever. After I had stopped at a stop sign and started driving, my car stalled. I was able to start the car again and drive another mile. I then parked the car and turned off the ignition. But when I tried to start up the car again, it wouldn't start. I tried turning the ignition a few times and it still wouldn't start. Pls help! What could be going on? It's a fairly new car with low mileage. :confuse:

Hi all.Thanks for all the replys. What I did is:Took the maintenance manual to a local oil-change shop, and showed him what is recommended for the 30K service. He separately priced each item mentioned there, and offered me a total price lower than $100, which was much lower than what a dealer would have charged.

This happened to me, not for Corolla, but for another car of another make.Same thing happened, I stopped at stop sign, and could not start it again. What had happened is: the ignition module, a small electronic chip that controls the ignition had failed. It cost me about $75 to replace it.

I'm having a similar problem, as described by js2008 with my 1998. Shortly after installing new front rotors and brake pads I noticed a (in the front somewhere) "thwump thwump thwump" noise while accelerating at low speeds (up to 45 mph). It wasn't consistent, and seemed to disappear after about 5 miles of driving. The noise would only occur while accelerating and the frequency of the noise was directly related to the speed of the car. It would not happen while turning and accelerating.Took the car back to my mechanic who couldn't duplicate the noise (naturally). He took the brakes apart and inspected the front end and the noise was gone....for about 2 weeks. It's back again.Grateful for any ideas.

There are many products out there to do an engine cleaning. Most are just powerful aerosol sprays that you just spray on a warm engine and allow the dirt and grease to drip down under the car. Of course you should put something on the ground as this will be quite messy underneath. I can't think of any brand names at the moment but if you go to a Pep Boys, Advance Auto Parts or an Autozone you will find a variety to choose from. Most of them work quite well and make the engine look new.

I have a 2006 Toyota Corolla with around 14K miles on it. There are hardly any miles on the car but since the car has completed 3 years now (its a Jan 06 purchase) should I get the 60K service done ?Should the service be based on miles or time or whatever is reached first ?Any advice will be highly appreciated.

Have three Toyotas, two over 100,000 miles, and never had the regular maintenace done. It's just a money maker for the dealerships. Especially with only 14,000 miles on the odometer. Get your oil changed regularly, rotate your tires occasionally, and you'll be fine, remember, it's a TOYOTA!

i have a toyota corolla 1.3... it has an immobiliser alarm, TOAD (im in the UK)when i press the alarm button so the car unlocks, the greenn light on the alarm works but nothing happens to my car, it doesnt make any sound and the doors dont unlock.i unlocked the car by the key, normally this would set the alarm off, but it didnt???so i put the key in the ignition and it turns but doesnt do a damn thing! no noise at all.also the buttons that open and close the doors automatically dont work. normally when im in the car and everything is normal the button that locks all the doors work without me even putting the key in the ignition.whats wrong with my car? please help me!

One big downside to not doing maintenance per the manufacturer's schedule is that if there IS a problem within the warranty period and the problem can be related to lack of maintenance, the manufacturer does not have to honor the warranty.

Scheduled maintenance doesn't have to be done by a dealer--it can be done by ANYONE who has the skill to do it--some other mechanic, even the owner if so inclined. Just be sure to keep all receipts, not only in case of a warranty claim but it helps with resale--buyers like to see that a car was well maintained.

The manual also states that records to prove that you had the required maintenance performed are not required and Toyota will still honor the warranty regardless of lack of records. Up until 60K miles the only requirement, besides visual inspections, are oil and filter changes and tire rotation, both of which I suggested DO get completed. Even at 60K the only thing they add is coolant flush and refill. Of course, by the time you get past 36K your warranty expired making the record keeping and maintenance performance for the warranty mute anyway. However, I do suggest as you do, accurate record keeping for any repairs or maintenance done to your vehicle regardless of who performs it and what you have done. This will definitely increase your odds of a more rapid resale with increased value of your vehicle.

Toyota is very generous to take the owner's word that required maintenance has been done! That alone might be a good reason to buy a Toyota.

Toyota does caution on its Web site, however, that "Repairs and adjustments to your vehicle caused by lack of proper maintenance are not covered under your new vehicle warranty. In addition, repairs and adjustments caused by improper maintenance or the use of fluids other than those specified in your Owner's Manual are not covered under your warranty." I wonder why they'd even have that clause since an owner could always say, "I did all the required maintenance" (whether they did or not) and all Toyota could do is say, "Oh. OK then."

There are a few extra service items at 30k and 60k, but interestingly replacing engine coolant isn't one of them--just inspecting it. Modern cars like the 2009 Corolla really have reduced the maintenance requirements, haven't they? Might be a good idea to have the 60k service done a bit early--before the 60k powertrain warranty runs out.